Summary: We will not investigate this complaint about the council tax payable on an empty property. The complainant has rights of appeal about his liability. We have exercised discretion not to investigate other aspects of the complaint.

The complaint

1. The complainant, who I refer to here as Mr B, has complained about a number of issues relating to his liability to pay council tax on a property he owns.
2. In summary, Mr B disputes:

• his liability to pay council tax on the property;
• whether the empty property premium of 200% applies to the property; and
• the amount of the empty property premium.

3. Mr B also says the Council:

• quoted the wrong level of empty property premium on its website; and
• has taken money from his bank without his permission.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

4. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
5. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
6. We investigate complaints about ‘maladministration’ and ‘service failure’. In this statement, I have used the word ‘fault’ to refer to these. We must also consider whether any fault has had an adverse impact on the person making the complaint. I refer to this as ‘injustice’.
7. We provide a free service but must use public money carefully. We may decide not to start an investigation if, for example, we believe:

• it is unlikely we would find fault;
• the fault has not caused injustice to the person who complained;
• any injustice is not significant enough to justify our involvement; or
• we cannot achieve the outcome someone wants. (Local Government Act 1974, section 24A(6), as amended)

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How I considered this complaint

8. I have considered what Mr B said in his complaint. The Council also provided background information.

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What I found

Background – the empty property premium

9. Councils can charge a council tax premium on empty properties. This can be to 200% of the council tax on a property that has been empty for 5 years. Council’s set the levels of such premiums when they set their budget for the financial year.

Liability to pay council tax on a property

10. If Mr B disputes the period for which he is liable to pay council tax or the amount of council tax, he can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. We will not usually investigate a complaint about this for the reason given in paragraph 5.

Liability to pay the empty property premium

11. If Mr B disputes he should pay the premium, he can appeal to the Valuation Tribunal. We will not usually investigate a complaint about this for the reason given in paragraph 5.

The level of the empty property premium

12. The Council sets the level of the premium when it sets its annual budget and this can only be challenged by Judicial Review in the High Court. For this reason, we will not investigate a complaint about the budget set by a council. This includes the level of any empty property premium.

The wrong level of empty property premium was quoted on the Council’s website

13. The Council accepts a figure of 150% wrongly appeared on its website and says it corrected this. I do not consider this affected the amount the Council is asking Mr B to pay and so has not caused him any significant injustice.

Taking payments without permission

14. Council tax payers are required to pay council tax they have been billed for, regardless of any dispute they have about the amount. The Council has used details provided by Mr B to collect the council tax from him and I can see no fault in this. Should he successfully appeal about his liability, the Council will refund any overpayment to Mr B.

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Final decision

15. I have decided we will not investigate this complaint for the reasons set out in paragraphs 9 to 14 above.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman